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Play to VN differences
The visual novel Royalty Free was inspired by a play written by the VN's creator. This is a list of differences between the play version and the visual novel. General differences *The play used the girls' original American names, instead of the Japanese names that are used in the VN. ** Utako was Emily. ** Aya was Liz. ** Shizuka was Julia. ** Hinata was Kiara. ** Mai was Desiree. * The girls are a bit younger in the play than they are in the VN, as Emily is 13 at the beginning of it (though she turns 14 around the middle) while the other girls are 14 (except Julia, who turns 15 in the middle). In the VN, the girls' ages are 15 (Utako and Mai), 16 (Aya and Hinata), and 17 (Shizuka). ** Emily (the creator) has explained that this is because the play was written around the time she was in eighth/ninth grade, while the VN didn't begin development until the beginning of her sophomore year, so she decided to age them up a bit. * Emily was the protagonist of the play, and most of it was centered on her. *In the play, Emily has a boyfriend named Dave. In the visual novel, she is single (as she is one of the love interests) and Dave seems to have been dropped entirely. *The play has the five princesses from the VN, but also has two more: Princess Selina (whose personality was the smart/logical one) and Princess Victoria (who went by Vicky and was not born into the royal family, having instead been adopted). These two were dropped from the VN because it would be too many routes to write, and the other characters had more personality. **Another factor in the two of them being dropped is the fact that by the time the game entered development, the two classmates they were named after had transferred to different schools. *Ryouta, Daichi, Chibana, and Naoko didn't exist in the play, and were added into the VN after Dave, Selina, and Vicky were dropped. Personality and Apperance differences *In the play, Emily is just the all-out tomboy princess. In the VN, Utako has some tomboy traits, but is mostly labeled as energetic. Also, in the play, she only sung and played guitar and piano, and she specialized in techno/dubstep. The VN has her play more instruments, but the dubstep element has been dropped. **It's implied that her hair in the play was supposed to be closer to shoulder-length and more of a dirty blonde, as opposed to the mid-neck cut and lighter blonde hair her VN sprite has. *In the play, Liz was more girly (as opposed to proper, as she is in the VN) and liked to be the center of attention, but wasn't as bossy or overbearing as she is in the VN. Aya is also more critical of Utako in the VN than in the play. Appearance-wise, she has stayed mainly the same. *Julia was simply mature and wise in the play. The VN added extreme shyness to Shizuka's personality. Appearance-wise, no changes were really made. *Kiara had no real defining personality traits in the play, and was kind of a background character. The VN changes this so that Hinata is a perfectionist artist with OCD. **The play meant for her hair to be very dark brown, almost black. In the first round of sprites, Emily accidentally made her hair closer to dark red than dark brown, and the change was kept with all subsequent sprite artists. *Desiree served no other purpose in the play than just being Liz's best friend and agreeing with everything she says. Mai and Aya barely even interact in the VN (if at all) and Mai was made a dancer, with a kind personality. Appearance-wise, she has stayed roughly the same. *The play had the Queen as the one constantly criticizing Emily and enforcing proper behavior. She is slightly more lenient in the VN, as the criticism and enforcing properness went to Aya. Friendship differences *Emily wasn't really good friends with any of her sisters in the play, and her only real friend was Dave. In the VN, Utako seems to be on good terms with Chibana, Ryouta, Daichi, and Naoko, and to a lesser extent, Shizuka and Mai. Although, she still kind of hangs out by herself most of the time, something she often did in the play. *In the play, Liz and Desiree were almost never seen apart from each other. In the VN, they don't interact much (if they even interact at all), and Aya is usually seen alongside Hinata while Mai is usually with Shizuka. *Kiara and Julia were also best friends in the play, but the VN gave them the same treatment that Liz/Desiree got.